Small maritime craft respond more dynamically to environmental conditions than larger capital ships. These same smaller craft are also often equipped with smaller weaponry than their larger counterparts. As a result, small arms weapon operators are presented with a more unsettled base from which to operate their weapons which has a negative impact on accuracy in aiming such weapons.
Small maritime craft are also more prone to be equipped with crew-served (manually maneuvered) mounts for weapons and any associated aiming devices. Manually adding such mounts for ocular sighting systems, laser pointers, and other aiming aids typically requires perfect alignment to the target and provide only marginal improvements in accuracy when connected aiming systems are used therewith.
Aiming systems further often physically separate a relatively-high precision aiming aids, such as high-fidelity viewing lenses, from the weapon itself in that recoil and other vibrations resulting from the firing of the weapon can impact the accuracy of the aiming aid.
Accordingly, what is needed is an aiming system that can operate with weapons systems that are inconsistently attached to vehicles and that can be readily adjusted by a user to generate a more accurate aim despite the inconsistent physical offset between the aiming device and the weapon itself.